I have mixed feelings about the de-canonization of the EU. If the new movies had been better, I think the vacuum left by the excision of the EU would have been a good thing. Michael Stackpole (and maybe James Luceno) wrote the only novels that I think wouldn't strike modern audiences as being fan-fiction.

I'm not surprised by the visceral reaction some are having...but I still can't understand it.

I'll leave that at that.

I will say this, though: I don't think anyone is going to be revealed to be a Skywalker in the sense people seemed worried about. Not Rey; not Ren. I think the Jedi are gone and whatever new order for "good" arises by the end of this story will be called the Skywalkers.

You'd probably be very safe from nerd-ragers or Fandom Menace (a term I'm not happy with) going to the theaters: I expect they'll be nearly empty after the first weekend.

Unlikely; whatever the vitriolic minority say, both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi were massive box office smash-hits. Both were good films - certainly by Hollywood's standards - and it actually seems that by most metrics, they were both considered good by the vast majority of people, both critics and audiences.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raistlinmc

I will say this, though: I don't think anyone is going to be revealed to be a Skywalker in the sense people seemed worried about. Not Rey; not Ren. I think the Jedi are gone and whatever new order for "good" arises by the end of this story will be called the Skywalkers.

I think and hope that that's the way things are going. The Force Awakens was basically a rip-off of A New Hope* but The Last Jedi was way more interesting, with an actual new, different story, and some great character development (Luke, Kylo, even Rey, etc) - having Rey actually be a Skywalker would, I think, be incongruent with that new direction, which is almost a subversion of some of the old tropes.

It does seem that some of the "fan" hate comes from them canning the extended universe - though personally I can't imagine them doing anything else. I guess I can see why that might upset some people but, honestly, who even cares? The whole notion of "canon" is kind of weird and philosophical and ridiculous anyway. Plus, some of the extended universe is awful and the last thing you want when you're creating a new film is to have to worry about that.

*Anyone who liked the latter must surely also like the former or a worst be a bit bored by seeing what is essentially the same story again (with yet another, bigger Death Star - hey, anyone remember Return of the Jedi?).

I’m going to stick up a bit for Solo. It’s not perfect by any means — definitely not. But for me, it’s a better film than The Force Awakens, and I think it’s a shame that its box-office performance means that we’re probably not going to get more films like that, relatively small-scale stories told in the Star Wars universe that aren’t about the fate of the galaxy but just about these people.

But I admit that the Force, the Jedi etc. really aren’t my thing as much as they are for a lot of people. What’s always appealed to me about the Star Wars universe is the grungy, beat-up, used-future side. One thing that makes the first film work for me is that we spend quite a bit of time on the nowhere world of Tatooine buying second-hand droids and hanging out in a dive bar.

EDIT:

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFred

Anyone who liked the latter must surely also like the former or a worst be a bit bored by seeing what is essentially the same story again (with yet another, bigger Death Star - hey, anyone remember Return of the Jedi?).

For “a bit bored,” read “very bored.” It already bored me in Return of the Jedi (easily the weakest of the original three for me). But at least in RotJ there’s a certain ring-composition aspect that’s not terrible in a conclusion — it’s a more serious flaw for me in an opening film, which I would have preferred to have communicated more of a sense of new possibilities. Third time was not the charm.

I'd say my opinion would add +1 to the idea that the original trilogy did not have particularly good acting/writing/plot. So when I look at the current movies that come out, I'm able to enjoy them for flashy special effects and fight scene driven films, with cool vistas and lightsabers.

I'd probably say I'd expect the next one to be on par with the two most recent, which I enjoyed for what they were.

I can say that I am hopeful that they don't change Rey's Parents to be anyone special. The move in the last movie to make her a nobody struck a chord with me.
And I am hopeful that the emperor's laughter and the nobody's gone forever means we either get back Snoke, or Maul.

I'd say my opinion would add +1 to the idea that the original trilogy did not have particularly good acting/writing/plot. So when I look at the current movies that come out, I'm able to enjoy them for flashy special effects and fight scene driven films, with cool vistas and lightsabers.
[/spoiler]

...might just be me, but as movies go, should't they be enjoyable with the audio turned on? ;P